1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technology for the optimum deployment of characters on a field which is formed in a video game space, data management technology for team data, and technology for forming a model using a montage.
2. Description of the Related Art
In competitive team sports such as soccer, each player is provided with a role (position), and by modifying these positions into arrays (formations) laid out in predetermined configurations, the positions are made to correspond to the conditions of a match. In soccer, there are formations such as a 4-4-2 formation, which lays emphasis upon defense by deploying 4 defenders (DF) at the rear, 4 midfielders (MF) in midfield, and two forwards (FW) up-front, or a 3-4-3 formation which lays emphasis upon attack by deploying 3 DFs at the rear, 4 MFs in midfield, and 3 FWs up-front. These formations are selected according to the opponent, the aptitude of the players on the team, the match plan and so on.
Among conventional soccer video games simulating the real sport, there have been disclosed games with a system for such formations which can be set by a game player. In the setting method of the formation system in a conventional soccer game, first the player characters who are to take part in a match and the formation of the players are selected, after which setting is performed for each player character to determine which player will be deployed in each of the positions laid out in accordance with the selected formation. According to this method, however, the game player must set all of the positions for a maximum of 11 players (in the case of a soccer game) manually, which is complicated.
In order to solve such a problem, a so-called automatic deployment system is known, this system being constituted such that the positions in each formation and each individual player character are allotted corresponding internal reference numbers such that when a player character and a formation are selected, the reference numbers of the selected player characters and the reference numbers of the positions in each formation are referenced in order to deploy each player character in positions on the field corresponding to the respective positions in the selected formation. In this automatic deployment system, the base position of each player character is noted, and player numbers are allocated to player characters for each of the respective positions. For example, player numbers FW1 to FWn are allocated to n number of FW player characters, player numbers MF1 to MFm are allotted to m number of MF player characters, and player numbers DF1 to DFk are allocated to k number of DF player characters. Reference numbers are also allocated to each position in each of the formations. For example, the position numbers F1 to Fp are allocated to the FW positions, M1 to Mq are allocated to the MF positions, and D1 to Dr are allocated to the DF positions. Here, p+q+r=10.
Then, when the game player selects the player characters who are to take part in the match and the formation, the player numbers and position numbers are referenced, whereby the player characters are automatically deployed in the desired positions. When, for example, a game player selects FW1 and FW3, MF1, MF2, MF4 and MF6, DF1, DF2, DF3 and DF5 as player characters and selects a 4-4-2 formation as the match array, the player characters are deployed in order of player number in the position with the smallest number onward, such that player character FW1 is deployed in position F1, player character FW3 is deployed in position F2, player character MF1 is deployed in position M1, and so on.
However, in a conventional automatic deployment system, the deployment of the player characters in each position consists of nothing more than simply deploying the player characters in order of player number in the position with the smallest number onward. Thus, player deployment is performed in a manner inconceivable in real soccer, without consideration of the abilities and aptitude of the individual player characters. This may cause the game player to lose interest. To explain according to the aforementioned example, if MF6 is right-footed, then the right foot ought to be used to hit a back pass accurately toward the center of the field, and therefore a position on the right side of the field, in other words M1 or M2, is desirable. However, according to the aforementioned example, MF1, MF2 and MF4 are deployed in positions M1 through M3, and therefore MF6 is deployed in position M4 on the left side of the field and is unable to exploit his abilities.
This kind of problem becomes even worse when the number of player characters selected differs from the number of positions established for each formation since proper deployment cannot be conducted. For example, if a 4-3-3 formation is selected as the match array, regardless of the player characters selected as above, a situation arises in which 1 FW is lacking and 1 MF is lacking, and therefore 1 MF must move to an FW position. It is desirable to move an MF player character who possesses good attacking ability and judgment ability as an FW to the FW position, but since the conventional automatic deployment system does not take into consideration the base positions, ability values, dominant feet and so forth of the individual player characters, positioning is carried out simply on the basis of a reference number. As a result, inappropriate positioning, such as deploying the MF with the lowest number as an FW, is carried out without due consideration.
Furthermore, even if the number of selected player characters correctly corresponds to the formation system, the number of player characters to be deployed in each of the positions will change if the formation system is modified, and thus the same problem will arise. In any case, it is necessary for the game player to perform a manual resetting operation in order to deploy the players in more suitable positions, but complicated to do so. In order to avoid these problems, a further method has been considered in which ideal player deployments in all of the formations are preset in respect of all of the player characters in all of the teams that are set in the game system. However, since this would expand the amount of data, it is unrealistic.
A conventional soccer game has also been disclosed in which the team formation, starting members, the personal appearance, names, base positions, ability values and so on of the player characters can be created using an editing mode. However, since the edited data are set so as to be overwritten in succession onto the same file, editing cannot be performed easily. Further, saving a plurality of edited data created by the game player so as to be usable has not been considered.
A conventional soccer game has also been disclosed in which polygons (parts) constituting a part of the faces of the player characters, such as the eyes, nose, and mouth, are assembled so as to create a favored face by means of a montage system, whereupon these faces are morphed to create various facial expressions. However, in a conventional montage, the magnitudes, shapes and so on of the polygons are preset, and therefore couplings among polygons are limited, making it difficult to create an individual face with a small amount of data. Moreover, when an attempt is made to render a moving facial expression by shifting the vertex of each polygon to fix an expression on a face, the degree of freedom is small, and it is therefore difficult to render richly expressive faces. Furthermore, if one considers that in the case of a soccer game, there are as many as 60 teams entering tournament games, league games1 and so on, and approximately 20 player characters per team, the total is near 1200 player characters, and thus the amount of polygon data expands. It is therefore necessary to develop technology for creating a large number of richly expressive faces with a small amount of data.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to disclose technology for a competitive team sports game which enables the positioning of player characters on a field to be determined on the basis of the attributes and abilities of the individual player characters. It is also an object of the present invention to disclose technology for a competitive team sports game which ameliorates the creation, inspection and so on of edit data for a team. It is a further object of the present invention to disclose technology for creating expressive objects using a small amount of data.